Breaking

Nationals make a trade

While all of the beat reporters are downstairs talking to Manny, the Nationals announced a trade. … but don’t get excited.

Here are the details:

The Washington Nationals today acquired shortstop Alberto Gonzalez from the New York Yankees in exchange for minor-league right-handed pitcher Jhonny Nunez. Gonzalez is expected to report to Washington, DC on Friday and be in uniform for the Nationals’ series opener vs. Cincinnati. Nationals Senior Vice President and General Manager Jim Bowden made the announcement.

Gonzalez, 25, is a plus defensive shortstop who last season was rated as the top defensive infielder in the Yankees’ minor-league system. Gonzalez, who played in 28 games during a pair of stints with the Yankees this season, batted .250 (47-for-188) with eight doubles, four home runs and 23 RBI in 47 games with Scranton/W-B of the Triple-A International League in 2008.

Gonzalez was acquired by the Yankees as part of the January 2007 five-player trade that brought Randy Johnson to New York. In 2005, he was rated by Baseball America as the top defensive infielder in Arizona’s minor-league system. At the minor-league level, Gonzalez tallied at least 20 doubles each of the last three seasons and has fanned just once every 8.6 at-bats in five-plus seasons.